A Trip To Remember
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Gia takes the team to meet Emma's Idol.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made._

_Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:_

_**No To Date Nights**_

_**The Party Night**_

_**Project Partners**_

_**Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks**_

_**Prom Night**_

Gia had a big surprise planned for her friends. Mostly it was a surprise for Emma, but she was sure the others would appreciate tagging along on a fun day off.

She wouldn't consider her dramas to be over. Though she was recovering, and felt much safer and much more at ease now than ever before, there was still a way to go before she felt completely back to normal. However, without her friends, she never would have made it this far in her recovery. Thanks to them and their persistence in helping her get over Cliff, she was starting to feel like the person they all knew she could be. She owed them all greatly for all the work they put into building her back up; Emma most of all.

Emma hadn't been without her own issues. The Ranger gig had been hard on everyone, and cause more than a few problems for each of the teens. On top of that, Emma had family dramas to balance. She lost both her parents, through no fault of her own, and essentially struggled with feelings of abandonment. She had to adjust to moving to a different home, and making her place in a new family. More than that, she started a relationship with a great guy whom she fell in love with, only to have that end suddenly when an accident took his most recent memories from him, erasing nearly everything he knew about Emma. However, even with all that, Emma had put her heart and soul into helping Gia.

The boys had been great too. They hadn't been without their own troubles, but they had been at Gia's beck and call every time she needed them. She knew now that she had a great team supporting her. Now, she felt like she was safe from the things she feared only about a month before. Now, she knew that if some new creep walked into her life, her friends would never let him lay a hand on her.

Or on themselves. Gia didn't want anything or anyone to threaten her teammates – her family. Though her duties as a Ranger made that a tough challenge, she could, right now, show them how thankful she was to have them around.

She got permission from Gosei to leave the city. Blue Bay Harbour, her destination, wasn't far from Harwood County at all, but it would still be trouble getting back into the city on a moment's notice if a monster did show up. However, Gosei agreed the Rangers needed some time to relax and have fun. They were balancing their regular lives with their Ranger lives. They had just finished up school, completing all their exams and summer had begun. This was the perfect time for them to enjoy being teenagers on vacation.

"The place is called Storm Chargers," Gia explained and Emma was already bouncing in excitement. She knew the place well. There were a few smaller shops open in Harwood, and it was the only store she trusted to have quality equipment.

However, the store Gia was taking her to now was special. This was the first store: the big store, but it was better known as the store were Motocross Stars Hunter Bradley, Blake Bradley, and Dustin Brooks sometimes worked.

"Storm Chargers?" Jake asked. "It's… what is it?"

"An extreme sport's shop," Gia explained. "Emma buys everything from there. Excluding all of the outdoors, it's her favour place to be."

"The equivalent to Noah walking into the Apple Store," Emma chuckled. "I could spend an entire day just browsing."

"Not just browsing," Gia shook her head and sighed, "Unfortunately, she always leaves with something. This is where I got Emma's helmet signed."

"By the Dusty Brooks guy?" Troy asked. Emma stopped in her tracks, crossed her arms over her chest and growled.

"Dust_in_ Brooks."

"This will be fun," Gia smiled as she led the team around a corner and saw the shop. Emma grabbed her by the arm and couldn't stop bouncing.

"His bike! Gia! That's his bike outside! He's here!"

"I saw a schedule on the desk when he signed the helmet," Gia nodded her head. "It said he was working today."

"That's a motocross bike," Noah pointed out when he saw what Emma was drooling over. "I thought Emma would be more into a guy who was into BMX. Isn't that friendlier for the environment?"

"He's the exception," Emma said and then ran over to the bike to get a closer look. Gia smiled and then looked at the boys.

"There's nothing really techy or any soccer or martial arts equipment inside," she said, "so it might not be as thrilling for you as it is for Emma but…"

"Anything that gets us out of the city for a day is worth the trip," Jake said as he took Gia's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure this'll still be really cool. It's not every day you get to meet a national celebrity in the extreme sports world."

Gia smiled, glad the boys weren't going to be bored out of their minds before she walked them over. Then she grabbed Emma by the arm and pulled her inside the store. Immediately she saw Dustin standing by the front desk, flipping through a comic book. Noah grinned.

"If that's him, I like him already."

"Stay here," Gia said to the boys and particularly Emma, "I'm going to see if he remembers me. Then I'll introduce you."

"Be fast," Emma said. Troy put his hand on her shoulder so he was sure she wouldn't go anywhere. Gia nodded her head and then turned to the counter. She waved her hand in front of Dustin, stealing his attention from his comic.

"Oh, sorry!" he snapped up, ready to help, "Did you find everything you were… Gia?"

"You do remember me?" Gia smiled. Dustin nodded his head.

"There was something special about you," he said. "How's your friend? Did she like the helmet?"

"She fell in love with it," Gia answered and then turned to her friends, "Actually, I hope you don't mind, but I brought her and a few people to visit. I know it's been a while, so I hope it's okay."

"Yeah, totally," Dustin nodded his head. He looked to the crowd of people by the door and smiled, waving them over. There was only one girl, making it easy for him to figure out which one was Gia's friend. He walked around the counter and didn't hesitate to give her a hug.

Emma's reaction was similar to the one she had when she rescued an injured bird in the woods. She had taken it home and nursed it back to health. She had done such a great job, that in a matter of weeks the bird was healed and flew off. Days later, when Emma was in the woods, she recognized the bird in a nest. Her face was lit up for days in excitement when she got to see she had given the poor bird a second chance to live. That light was back on her face as Dustin wrapped his arms around her.

"You must be Emma."

"You… You are… You're him," Emma babbled out and then covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed she was so nervous in front of her childhood hero. Dustin chuckled, though not at Emma. He had seen a lot of people coming into Storm Chargers and turning into nervous, babbling idiots for Hunter and Blake. He had gotten a little jealous. To see there was finally someone who recognized him, and who looked up to him made him feel special.

And she was cute. She was much too young for him. He had about ten years, maybe more on her, but she blew Blake's and Hunter's fans out of the water. While they were babbling idiots, Emma's babbling was adorable.

"I'm him," Dustin nodded. "You're a big fan?"

Emma resorted to only nodding her head; scared her babbling would make Dustin think she was an idiot. He continued, "I hear you're into BMX. I think that's pretty sweet. I kind of wanted to try it. You know, get a feel of how much harder it is when you actually have to pedal. There's a track out back, and Kelly's got a few bikes we can borrow. Wanna show me your moves?"

Emma grabbed Gia's arm tightly, "You are _the_ most amazing person ever!" she threw her arms around Gia before racing out the back of the store with Dustin, excited at her opportunity to ride with her hero.

"DUDE!" Jake called out from other corner of the store. He didn't know who Dustin was, and as happy as he was for Emma, he had gotten bored quickly. He started to browse when he came across what he thought looked like a cool skateboard. A woman with red hair, seeing his excitement, came over.

"You ride?"

Jake shook his head. He had been on a skateboard occasionally, but it wasn't his sport. Still, he could appreciate it, "Naw, but this looks sick."

"Give it a try," Kelly took the skateboard down from the shelf and gave it to Jake, "Just no tricks. You scratch it, you buy it."

"You want me to try it in the store?"

"Take it outside," Kelly shook her head. Jake clutched the board and then ran outside to give it a try. He grabbed Noah, pulling him along for a second opinion.

Troy walked around the store, seeing nothing that drew his attention in, but he still liked to look around at the many different items on display. As he looked around, he noticed Gia was doing the same, only she stayed more on the side with the bikes. It was her comfort zone. All she knew was what Emma had taught her. Gia had made it clear she didn't have any interests and hobbies of her own, too scared to branch out.

"Rock climbing looks pretty cool," he told her and waved her over. Gia came and had a look at the equipment.

"A little dangerous, though," she shook her head, "I just got a second chance at life; I'm not going to throw it away."

"We fight monsters," Troy whispered. "You think climbing a few hills is dangerous?"

"I don't know what my thing is yet," Gia said, "but it's not that."

"You're looking for a thing?" Kelly came over to Troy and Gia. The yellow Ranger nodded her head.

"Well… not exactly…"

"She is," Troy stated. Gia gave him a glare and then sighed. There was no harm in trying something new. Looking out the window, she could see Jake was making a fool of himself as he practiced skateboarding, and apparently had been joined by a man in red who was giving him a few pointers. And she knew Emma was outback, riding with Dustin Brooks. Maybe it was time she tried to branch out, see what spoke to her.

"Are you looking for something for the summer?" Kelly asked, "Or just in general? I don't have the winter sports out at this time of year, but I could check in the back."

"Bungee jumping," Troy suggested from another end of the store. Gia rolled her eyes.

"Ignore him," she said to Kelly, "He's obviously trying to get me killed."

"That's the nature of this shop," Kelly shrugged her shoulders. "All these sports are extreme for a reason. There's a high risk, especially for beginners."

"Gia's not afraid of risks," Troy spoke up again for Gia, earning another glare, but Gia didn't say anything. Troy knew all she needed was a little push. He continued to look around the store, hoping to find something here that would be interesting for Gia.

Out in the back, Emma had completed a lap around the track with a borrowed BMX bike. She fared just a little better than Dustin, and beat him in the one lap race, but only by a margin. Dustin, though he was used to motocross bikes, had done very well.

He stopped beside her and took off his helmet. He saw the wide grin on Emma's face, "I'm glad you're happy."

"I guess Gia talked to you last time," Emma nodded.

"She said you were down. You must be really special for her to come all the way out here just for a pink helmet."

"You even remember the colour?" Emma asked and her cheeks turned red. She couldn't believe Dustin remembered her best friend. She couldn't believe she was meeting him now. Hell, she still couldn't believe she had his signed helmet in her bedroom at home.

"Why wouldn't I? It's not often I see a friend go so far out of her way to help another friend. It was touching. It reminds me why I generally trust people. Everyone's got a little bit of good in them somewhere."

"Gia is special," Emma nodded her head. Then she looked up at Dustin and smiled, "One more lap?"

"Hold up," Dustin smiled, "You've got some pretty sick moves, but I've noticed you seemed a bit… off."

"I don't normally race," Emma admitted. "Sometimes Gia and I do get a little competitive when we ride, but I mostly take my bike out to the woods. It's faster, and easier to move around."

"Out to the woods?"

"I'm an Eco-Freak," Emma nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I take my bike out to the woods just to be outside, or to take pictures. I'm a BMXing, nature enthusiast photographer."

"That's a mouthful," Dustin laughed, "But that sounds really cool. Do you have any pictures right now?"

"You want to see them?"

"Yeah. Let's see what you've got."

"I'm going to warn you, most of it is plants and animals," Emma got off her bike and walked to her bag. She pulled out her camera and turned it on. As she loaded the pictures on to the screen she looked up at Dustin, "I don't have action shots or anything."

Dustin came over and looked over her shoulder. He let out a low whistle, "Whoa, you're _really_ good. You've got a lot of talent, kid."

"Thanks," Emma blushed again. Being complimented by her idol was better than a dream come true, though she didn't know what was better: having her idol tell her that her moves were sick in a sport they shared a common interest, or having her idol look at her photography skills – a talent he had never shown any awareness of in interviews or videos she had seen of him – with genuine interest.

"Oh, wait, you're a photographer!" Dustin smiled and touched Emma's shoulder. She wasn't sure she could blush anymore. "Dude, Blake and Hunter would be so jealous if they saw I got professional photographs done!"

"Professional?" Emma asked and as it turned out, she could blush harder.

"You're good enough to be a professional photographer. Just let me get changed."

Dustin put the bikes back on the rack where he found them and led the way back inside. While he went to gear up, Emma darted over to Gia and swallowed her best friend in a tight hug.

"My life is complete!"


End file.
